Organic polymers are conventionally considered to be electrical insulators or semiconductors. However, doping of organic polymers changes the electrical, electronic, magnetic, or optical properties of the polymer while retaining advantages of the polymer, such as, mechanical strength and flexibility.
Conventional methods for doping organic polymers having included adding the dopant to melted organic polymer, such as in melt spinning or injection molding; dissolving the organic polymer, adding the dopant, and evaporating off the solvent, such as electrospun fibers and solvent cast films; and adding dopants with precursors and polymerize the organic polymer in the presence of the particles. The latter method being particularly useful for polymers such as urethanes, polyurea resins, and acrylic resins.
However, these conventional methods do not sufficiently control a depth or distribution of the dopant particles in the organic polymers. Furthermore, these methods are limited to the time of polymer manufacture. Thus, there remains a need for improved methods of doping organic polymers after manufacture while controlling the depth and/or distribution of the dopant in the polymer.